Perfect Security
by NerdGurl89
Summary: What is it about this Galaxy that keeps out all other lifeforms? The Doctor needs to find out, and he's dragging Donna with him! Of course, he maybe should've left his coat on the TARDIS. R&R! Chapter 2 up!
1. Chapter 1

A/N2: Edited this a bit because I went back to my fav fic and realized that she had already used "Lost Colonists"! I have a slightly different idea, and calling them Lost Pioneers is NOT just me thinking of a similar name. Will be explained in another chapter.

A/N: Thought I'd take a stab at a Doctor Who/Firefly crossover! One of my favorite fics is one, so I wanted to try my hand. I have my own ideas, mind, so I'm not copying anyone. Takes place after Serenity (the movie) and Planet of the Ood. Review and let me know what you think!

"We're takin' the job and that's that! Anyone want to argue otherwise, argue with Jayne...man needs to take his anger out on something soon."

Mal stalked out of the galley, ignoring the protests emitting from it. Much quieter, though. Just Simon and Kaylee, though. Zoe wasn't saying much of anything anymore, not since...but Mal didn't think about that if he could help it.

Jobs were few and far between after that business on Miranda. Most those that hadn't been killed by the Alliance didn't want anything do Serenity or Mal in case they were next. Badger didn't mind much as long as he got the job done, but Badger's jobs were never very clean, or sometimes even moral. But beggars couldn't be choosers, and they were livin' job to job.

Even Inara was findin' it had to find work nowadays. Her exit from her last posting was...public to say the least on the companion circuit, so her clientele were about as reputable as their dealing with Badger. Mal couldn't bring himself to be his usual rude self about her job anymore, either, because really what choice did any of them have now. He didn't think that even in that job she could feel dirtier than he did doing some of the jobs they'd gotten lately.

Badger had just waved them with the promise of another job, and the crew weren't too happy about it. Jayne never cared one way or the other, long as they got paid, Kaylee and Simon were just about at the end of their ropes with the way things were going. And Mal could feel Zoe's unsaid disapproval from her silent corner.

Nevertheless, they were off to Persephone. If they didn't take this job, they'd be stuck dirtside. They'd have to ask again for half up-front so they could refuel. Mal was getting sick of asking Badger for favors. It always made the little scumbag smile just a bit too wide.

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><p>"Have I ever told you about The Lost Pioneers? The colony of humans that split off from Earth under the idea that the world would end?" The Doctor asked, his voice muffled from under the TARDIS's grilled floor.<p>

Donna rolled her eyes from the TARDIS jumpseat couch, "No, who were they?"

His head popped up, and he gave his companion a withering look. "They were a colony of humans that split off from Earth under the idea that the world would end! Don't you pay attention?"

"No, I meant why are you mentioning them?"

"Oooh, didn't I say? I never have taken the TARDIS in that period before! For hundreds of years these colonists inhabited a galaxy of planets, completely isolated from the rest of the universe. No one knows why, but for some reason other life forms steer clear! The Time Lords always wanted to leave it be, said it should remain untampered with or somethin'. Never one to follow rules, myself. What do you say? Fancy findin' out?"

Donna opened her mouth to respond, but the Doctor was already extracting himself from his work and attacking the console.

"Sure," she mumbled, "whatever you want." Ever since the Doctor had found her again, he had seemed even sadder than before. And older, like she had told him. Sometimes she just didn't have the heart to say "no" when he got incredibly excited about going somewhere.

After a few minutes of speeding through the Time Vortex, the wheezing sound of the TARDIS landing started. But something sounded wrong, even to Donna's untrained ears.

"What's wrong with her, Doctor?" She asked, shooting a worried glance at him.

He looked strained, a complete 180 to the start of the trip. "I don't know, but this feels like sort of security measure." He tapped a few buttons under the scanner and glanced at the readings. "It looks like a simple transport barrier, but someone's hiked up the parameters to the nth degree! Someone's taken the original settler's security and isolated a galaxy of people! We've got to get to the bottom of this. First, where are we?"

He tapped a few more keys.

"Aahh, planet by the name of Persephone, the 25th of October 2518, and we're right in the middle of a superb representation of life for the Lost Pioneers." He grabbed his long coat off a coral support beam on his way to the door.

"Doctor,"

He turned, "Hmm?"

"Those security measures? How did we get past them?"

"You think even ramped up 26th century security could stop a TARDIS?" the Doctor retorted as he headed out of the Tardis doors.

"Right, stupid me," Donna mumbled as she followed the Doctor.

"I really need to work on landing away from people," The Doctor muttered to Donna as the doors closed. His eyes were crossed, viewing the barrel of a large pistol pointed between them.

"Yeaahh." Donna agreed.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: This is my second attempt at trying to write the second chapter to this fic. The first will NEVER see the light of day. Now that I've had time to think it over, I have a much better idea of how I want things to go. And I edited a few things in chapter 1 that will pay off later, so I'd check that out again before reading this. It's small, but for a couple of reasons I had to make some changes. I hope I can get a good handle on the Doctor's voice in this chapter, because I just finished listening to David on a commentary, and right now the Doctor's voice is somewhat Scottish. Gonna do my best. As always, Read and Review!

One more thing: I'd like someone to help me start putting in Chinese phrases from Firefly into the fic. I'm a bit overwhelmed with my choices, and it seems from the Firefly fics I've read that many of you have this down pat. So if someone would like to help me out, let me know!

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><p>Mal stalked away from Badger's place without bothering to check if Jayne and River were following. The morning had not gone well. Simon had of course objected to his sister going without him, Mal stating that they couldn't afford their medic being injured. Kaylee took Mal's side, which made Simon all manner of upset at both of them. No skin off Mal's back, but it made Kaylee upset too. And Kaylee upset made <em>everyone<em> feel guilty.

Mal had not allowed Zoe to come with them. He told her that she needed to make sure his boat wasn't torn apart by their child-like crew, but the truth was he couldn't bear it if something happened to someone else in his crew. She was emotionally compromised and Mal couldn't justify putting her in danger when she wasn't all there. She had broken her most recent stretch of silence to fervently argue her point, but he wasn't hearing it.

So that was the majority of the crew pretty well annoyed with him before they even had the job, and the only two people who would talk to him right now were a man who would stab him in the back if the money was good enough, and a mind-reader that wasn't all there a lot of the time from having needles pokin' 'round her brain. That was all manner of disturbin'.

And Badger had not improved Mal's mood. He had done his usual song and dance about being better than him, how Mal needed to learn his place. After all those years of hearing it, Mal had never been able to control his reactions as well as he should, and only River doing her "reader" thing on Badger again had been able to resolve the situation long enough to get the instructions for the job. Guns were still trained on them as they left. Mal could've just let River take care of them, but just as with Zoe he was less willing to put his crew in danger after losing Wash.

"Still wish you would've let me shoot that little weasel," Jayne grunted angrily. Mal ignored this. Jayne always wanted to shoot Badger. So did Mal.

"I would move to the left if I were you," River intoned quietly behind him.

Two seconds later, something brown streaked towards them, Mal sidestepping just in time not to be bowled over.

Unfortunately, Jayne wasn't listening to River. He rarely did.

He was uttering a string of curse words so long even Mal felt like blushing. A man wearing a long brown coat had plowed right into Jayne, knocking the merc clean off his feet

Mal grabbed the back of the stranger's coat and yanked him off Jayne. Almost at once, what felt like fists rained down on his own back.

"Let go of 'im! You let go of him you John Wayne wannabe!"

The voice had an accent similar to Badger's, Mal registered, but he didn't have time to contemplate this as he was trying to get out of the line of fire. He swung round to see who the culprit was, standing next to River and the still grounded Jayne.

A man and woman were facing each other, clearly out of breath. The man was tall and freckly, with spiky hair, and wearing a long brown coat. He was being berated by a red-haired woman wearing a loose pink shirt, the kind Mal had seen Kaylee wear when she wanted to look pretty for Simon, and denim trousers.

"Why is it you _always_ get us into trouble right away? Can't we just have a nice time for two seconds before the running starts?" The man winced as she poked her finger hard into his shoulder.

"Where's the fun in that? You'd get bored if all we did was wander around aimlessly! Hit the ground running, I always say...and this time quite literally. But it's ok, we've lost them now."

"But why were they after us! You said the TARDIS has a perception filter thingy, people aren't supposed to notice it! So why did they chase us?"

Mal cleared his throat.

"Oh, sorry," the man turned to face them. Jayne was getting unsteadily to his feet. "So sorry to bump into you like, just running away from the welcoming party. I'm the Doctor and this is Donna, who are you?"

He said this very fast. He also had an accent like Badger's, and yet was wearing a brown coat. This combination made deciding to trust him very hard.

Jayne started forwards, clearly intending to punch the living daylights out of this "Doctor," but Mal held out his arm.

"Doctor who?"

The man giggled, "Ah, that never get's old. Just the Doctor, kinda like Cher. Or Barney. Never much liked Barney, I've met dinosaurs and none of them were purple-"

"Doctor," the woman Donna warned in an undertone.

"Right, sorry, no more provoking people with guns. Actually, we're looking for something. Do you know anything about a security field protecting this galaxy? Like, where it would transmit from, or who runs it? We just need to ask them a couple of questions-"

"See, they're Feds!" Jayne growled, "I say we shoot 'em and get outta here 'fore more turn up."

"Feds? Nonononono we're laws unto ourselves, right Donna?" she nodded vigorously, eyeing Vera.

"We're just travelers, and happened to notice the absence of alien life. How long's that been going on then?"

"Ok, maybe not Feds, but nutjobs." Jayne turned to Mal, "Can I still shoot 'em?"

Mal just answered the Doctor, "Are you sellin' somethin'? Cause I've seen those sideshows people like you put up, fetal cows and suchlike, sayin' they're aliens. Thanks but no thanks. Now I'd skidaddle 'fore I let Jayne here loose."

Mal and Jayne continued on their route to Serenity, but River stood stock still, staring at the Doctor.

And he was staring back.

* * *

><p>"Now what are you?" whispered the Doctor, putting on a pair of glasses and looking closely into the girl's eyes.<p>

"Doctor, we should really go!" Donna hissed earnestly. Mal and Jayne had noticed River's absence, and Jayne was readying the terrifying gun strapped to his back.

"Donna, there's something much more sinister going on here. First, human colonists from your future that don't believe in alien life. That's enough to be getting on with. But Donna, this girl has psychic abilities unlike any I've seen in centuries! I didn't even register the Ood this strongly."

"Needles. Needles in my brain. Two by two, hands of blue. They should meet Serenity." This last sentence was uttered to the two men behind them.

"And why should I let them, little albatross?" the shorter man in the brown coat and suspenders asked.

"Because we'll need them. And they need us."

The large muscular man with the large gun looked unhappy at this. "Mal, they're either nuts or Feds, and I ain't goin' through neither again. River's not so bad anymore, but I ain't gonna get stabbed again or have to listen to more jibber-jabber that don't make no sense!"

"Thanks, Jayne, but I'm the captain, it's my boat, and I'll make the decisions. River, why will we need each other?" Mal walked forward as he said this, looking down at her.

"So we can be free."


	3. Chapter 3

"I'm gonna kill 'im 'fore we even make it back to the boat," Jayne growled.

The Doctor had told the Captain and Jayne that he and Donna were just travelers, ignoring Mal's questions as to where exactly they were from. They were taking them back to Serenity to see what everyone else thought of these two strangers. Mal was wary, though. He wasn't sure if someone River thought was important would be necessarily safe for his crew.

What was setting Jayne's teeth on edge was the Doctor's constant babbling about and pointing at everything around him.

"Oh Donna, what did I tell you about the Asian influence! Two very different cultures blended seamlessly across a whole galaxy! Over 900 years and you almost never see that. Well, Justicia, but that was more of an institution. I wonder which cultures are most dominate where? Maybe when we've solved all this we could have a shifty around, whaddyu think? Or we could travel back to when they first got here! Might help us understand all this a bit better..."

Jayne struggled not to knock him over the head with Vera. Something about this guy just made him uncomfortable, aside from just sheer annoyance. He was too thin, too wild, and his eyes were wrong. Too old for his face. And not entirely human. Every one of his instincts were to get rid of this weirdo right now.

His friend was pretty normal as far as Jayne could tell, though. 'Bout Mal's age maybe, red-headed which was rare but not unheard of. Seemed to take all of the Doctor's quirks in stride, almost humoring him. She looked at Jayne as if warning him, then poked the Doctor, interrupting his neverending flow of nonsense.

"I really think you should lay off the rambling until they trust us, eh? I'm still knackered from running the first time."

The Doctor looked at her, followed her pointed nod in Jayne's direction, and inclined his head in agreement.

The walk to Serenity went quietly after that. Mal was glad he wouldn't have to worry about another body added to Jayne's resume.

"Now, we're not takin' passengers..." Mal began.

The Doctor chuckled. "Oh nononono we've got our own transport, don't worry about us. Just a quick shifty, maybe have another little talk with River here, then off we go!"

"Yeah, we'll be out your hair in no time!" Donna agreed.

Mal pondered for a second. "You don't know Badger, do you? Only you sound awfully like him."

"Weell, I've known badgers. Weeell, more like human-badger hybrid pirates-"

"Will you hush up?" Jayne growled from behind.

"...bit dim, but nice enough once you got them on your side..."

"Hush!"

..have I told you about this Donna? Martha and I were stuck on a spaceship with an experimental drive that had stalled- "

"HUSH!"

That was Mal who grabbed the Doctor and Donna by the shoulders and shoved them to the side behind some stacked crates.

"What was that for you -" Donna began, before Mal slapped his hand over her mouth. She glared menacingly at him.

Mal could smell danger. He whispered, "Sorry Ma'am, but we've got a whole mess of Alliance soldiers guarding our ship. They spot River of me and we're off to the core faster than you can say -"

"_Ta ma de! Nimen de bizui!"_ That was Jayne, who pushed the group back even further behind the crates. He had been keeping a lookout, and apparently the soldiers were drawing nearer.

Donna moved Mal's hand from her mouth and whispered to the Doctor, "What did he just say?"

"Basically to shut up." The Doctor had an amused expression on his face.

"But, what language was that? And how come the TARDIS didn't translate it?"

He still looked at her with the amused expression that made her want to hit the skinny idiot sometimes.

"I'll explain later."

Donna huffed and watched as Jayne peered over the crates, checking the soldiers' location again.

"They're in the _Serenity_ now, Cap'n. Say we ambush 'em?"

"We got no choice, there's no tellin' what they're doin' to Zoe and the others. You two," he directed this to the Doctor and Donna, "stay behind us since you aren't armed. River, you know what to do."

The young girl nodded once, and group exited their hiding place.

Donna looked at the Doctor skeptically. "Do we really want to get in the middle of this? What if they're criminals or murderers or summink?"

The Doctor's brow furrowed. "I don't know, but the leader seems honorable enough. You know how I feel about violence, but I really think we should see this through. I need to find out more about that River girl."

"Fine, but if we get shot I'm gonna shove my foot so far up your tiny alien-"

"I know, I know. Just trust me on this." He looked seriously at her.

"You know I do." And the pair hurried to catch up.

A/N: This has taken me AGES to finish! And it's not even that long! Sorry about that, but I had to work out a way to introduce the Chinese phrases, and figure out how to get the Doctor and Donna on the Serenity under certain circumstances. And I've started a couple of other stories, so I was occupied with those. Anyway, Review and tell me how this went! I love you all who have already reviewed!


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